Second Chance
by Mikichu
Summary: Crocker gets a hold of Norm's lamp again! After he drove Norm away, he began to feel guilty and now he has another shot. Will he push the Genie away again with his selfishness, or will he stick to his "no wish" policy? Rated T for language. Slash.
1. A Rather Pleasant Reunion

Denzel Crocker was pissed.

He'd gotten so close to catching Turner's Fairies. A hair's breadth away! If it hadn't been for his mother and those stupid overgrown toenails of hers, he would have had it! The toenail clipping wasn't even enjoyable, anyway. Who likes clipping their mother's toenails? Freaks, and Denzel Crocker was no freak!

"Dennn-zelll!" His mother came into his room - without knocking, as was the tradition - , smiling, and holding something. He didn't really care to see what she was holding, as it was likely what she was so enthusiastic about.

_Just smile, and nod, Denzel. Smile…_

A forced smile plastered itself on his lips as he fiddled with his Fairy-Catching Device. "What do you need, Mother?" May as well be polite. After kicking her out the door, things got rough between them. After all, she provided the roof over his head, so getting rough with her wasn't something he would like to do.

"Denzel! I got this beautiful lamp at a garage sale in the town over!" Her bright red lips curled up in a proud smile and she held it up for her son to see. "Isn't it the most beautiful shade of purple?"

_A lamp from the seventies?_ He squinted at it. "Hmm…"

"And, since you're my son and I love you, I want to give it to you!" She urged it into his twitchy hands. "There! That should add some colour to this room!"

Without a word of goodbye, she rushed out the door, giving Crocker time to examine the lamp. "Hmm… gray base, purple blobs… wait a second!" His eyes grew wide under his thick glasses. "I _know_ this lamp!"

He rubbed it excitedly. As he did so, a loud GONG was heard and Crocker fell back from the force of it. Smoke billowed from the light fixture, a silhouette forming in the violet mist, mighty and powerful and-

"Mahhh, what's goin' on?" He lifted curtains from his eyes and replaced them with his shades, still tired but easily figuring out what had just happened after a moment of confused silence. "Ahg, really, Crockpot? When I'm sleeping- hey hey, wait." He stared at the giddy hunchback for a moment. "Crockpot? Is that seriously you? Man, what are the odds of you getting a hold of my lamp agai-"

"I don't know what they are, but they're in my favour!" he cackled. He jumped up and hugged Norm as he did when they first met, his arms and legs wrapped around him tightly.

Norm smirked. "Let me guess. Still single, huh?"

"You bet!" He hopped off the Genie, smiling as though his bleak relationship status was something to be proud of. "Women are nothing compared to FAIRY GODPARENTS!" (Spazzy spazz spazz.) "And now, with your magic, I can try once again to capture Timmy Turn…" Crocker trailed, looking down.

Norm, looking at him expectantly, was puzzled by a missed spazzout opportunity. "Ehh…"

"Oh, Norm," he sighed, sounding rather sad. "I wouldn't do that to you. That's what drove you away last time." He looked back up at him. "At least, I wouldn't force you to. I can capture his -FAIRIES!- myself."

The Genie's black eyebrows scrunched together. "Wait, wait, what? Crockpot, you're not making any sense. I'm a Genie, remember?" He GONGed up a rather showy sign, as if to further jog the teacher's memory.

"Well, yes…" He admired the sign for a moment, then continued, "but, you're my friend, too, and-" He stopped. "Uh… we are friends, right?"

Norm stared at him. "I, uh…" It was an odd concept for him to think about. Why would a master want to be friends with their Genie? Crocker was desperate and lonely, yeah, but it still didn't make a lot of sense. "I guess, yeah."

"Excellent! Now, to devise a plan to capture Timmy Turner's FAIRY GODPARENTS!" After a rather odd spasm that should have been fatal, he went back to tweaking his machine, occasionally twitching.

Norm blinked appreciatively at him and GONGed back into his lamp to finish his nap. After he did so, Crocker took the purple light fixture from the floor and set it on his desk, smiling at it. Maybe today wasn't so bad after all.

•••

Upon waking up, Norm was surprised that he did so on his own accord. Much as he appreciated Crocker's thoughtfulness, it really threw him off; one got used to routine after fifty thousand years (the term "used to" not to be confused with "content with").

Unsure of what was to come next, he decided to GONG out of the lamp. It was evening now, and Crocker appeared to not have moved, as he was still working away at the strange-looking… thingy… he had built.

"Hey, Crockpot. What is that thing, anyway?" He floated down and rested his elbows on the desk, watching him work.

"What do you think it is? It's a device for catching FAIRY GODPARENTS!" The traditional spasm made Crocker land on his head with a loud THUD, making the Genie wince. Hopping up as though nothing happened, he continued, "I've been working on it for days." With that, he went back to tinkering the thing, muttering something under his breath.

"Can't ya just use a butterfly net or something?" he asked. "I mean, that's what I did." He crossed his arms proudly. "Worked pretty well, if I say so myself."

"Norm, Norm, Norm, you're overcomplicating things!" he told Norm with a grin. "Making a butterfly net would take weeks! This beauty," — he held up the machine with a bit of difficulty — "will take mere days! I call it… the Contraption!" Immediately after he finished the statement, it fell on him, making a short CRUNCH."GEH!"

Norm flinched instinctively at the sound and snapped his fingers, magicking the Contraption back on the desk. Looking Crocker over quickly, he could safely say that none of his bones were broken. It made him wonder what exactly had crunched. "You could just buy a net, ya kno—"

"Are you crazy? You can't just buy a Fairy-catching net!" He jumped up again without any regard for the pain he should be feeling, prompting thoughts about how the man might just be impervious to it. "I know more about this stuff than you do, Norm."

As he went back to the Contraption, Norm blinked, and decided to risk a suggestion. "Ya know, ya could just wish for one. All-powerful Genie, three rule-free wishes at the tips of your fingers…" He wiggled the mentioned body parts as if to demonstrate the power his master had.

"Oh, no." He faced Norm and crossed his arms, his expression surprisingly firm. "I'm not wishing for anything. Anything, you hear me?" He pointed at his companion, who was still rather puzzled by the whole situation, and took a step toward him. "I'm going after those -FAIRIES- by myself."

Norm executed a perfect facepalm and sighed, peeking at his master through his fingers. "Look, Crockpot, you're still not making any sense. I mean, I understand the whole not-wanting-to-drive-me-away thing, but…" He trailed, unsure of how to finish the sentence. "Yeah…"

"Well, Norm, after you disappeared, I did some thinking. Maybe I was too harsh on you. Maybe Mars would have worked! Turner's head, exploding from lack of oxygen…" He smiled fondly at the image. "And, after several more failed attempts, I realized something…"

"Den-zelll! Come help Mommy pick out a pair of socks!"

He grimaced as he began to trudge out of the room. "…I know what it's like to be ordered around too." With that statement hanging in the air, he headed out before anything else could be said, leaving Norm to float in stunned silence and stare at the closed door.


	2. Still Quite Bipolar

As Crocker sorted through his mother's sock drawer, Norm decided to spend his time relaxing on his master's bed. Pathetic as it was that he lived with his mother, he did have a pretty nice view. He did try to avoid looking at Turner's house; if he did, he would probably be tempted to burn it down or send it to Mars. Crockpot probably wouldn't like that…

The idea prompted thoughts about what the man had done in the Genie's absence. Obviously, he had tried more plans and was about to do that again. It was something that he did, something Norm had, whilst being trapped in his lamp, come to accept and even maybe like about him. He couldn't deny that sometimes he'd wished he stayed with Crocker, or hoped that someday, somehow, the lamp would fall into his gray, twitchy hands again. And he also couldn't say that he'd never thought back to how affectionate he'd been in contrast to his thousands of other masters, and smiled at the memories. The obsessive man had made life a little more pleasant for him, and he was glad to be back.

However, much as he knew that Crocker liked him, the decision to not make any wishes was still an oddity to Norm. After all, he had three – no, unlimited – rule-free wishes in front of him. It wasn't as though Norm would decide to leave as soon as he was forced to work his magic. To be completely truthful, he probably wasn't going to leave at all, no matter how stupid his plans turned out to be. As insufferable as his Fairy-based rants were, Norm was happy with having a friend.

A friend…

The notion made him smile softly. With a friend, he was free, in a way. He would never have to spend another second imprisoned in his lamp, shut away from the world and any hopes of someday getting out. And maybe, just maybe… he finally had someone who cared about him.

The door opened and Crocker stood there, looking rather disgruntled and covered in footwear. Norm sat up and blinked. "Damn. How long does it take a dame to pick a pair of socks?"

"She decided not to wear them," he replied, sounding as though he would like to drown every sockmaker in the country. Without saying another word, he stalked back to his Fairy-hunting device, taking a screwdriver and bashing the top with the wrong end of it.

"Ah, Crockpot, you do know that's the wrong-"

"Be quiet!" the teacher snapped, nearly hitting Norm with the tool. "I know what I'm doing!"

The Genie cringed. It seemed Crocker still had quite a temper in him. Deciding to not provoke him further, he put up his hands defensively and sighed. "Fine, all right. If ya change your mind about the whole 'no-wish' thing, you know where to find me." With that, he GONGed into his lamp.

•••

Fuck, was it ever depressing.

It wasn't just the fact that it was cold and damp, either. When you're trapped in some place for millenia, the whole air of it puts you on edge, because you know by then that it is most definitely a prison. It can try to hide behind all that nice colour and four-screen TimmyVision, but you're still trapped, you're still a slave, and there is no way to get out.

Norm sighed. He used to like that shade of purple. Now it just screamed of all the terrible things it had caused him, all of the gruesome things he'd done, all the violations he'd suffered, just because he was a Genie. A growl rose in his throat. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.

The growl was soon replaced with a sigh. He didn't need to dwell on it now. He had Crocker, the kind master, the affectionate master, the one who cared, the one who got angry for no reason, the master who'd just yelled at him for trying to help...

...

_Shit._

He settled down on his couch, deciding he needed another nap to sort everything out. Who knew that being Crocker's Genie again was going to be so difficult? There certainly wasn't this amount of thinking put into it the first time it had happened. All Norm needed to ponder was what his ear was doing on his neck.

"Oh No-o-orm! I have something for you!"

He looked up at the ceiling, his interest piqued. A gift? Now, that was a first.

"**_STOP IGNORING ME!_**"

...The bipolar master...

•••

Crocker smiled when the Genie appeared, grabbing his wrist and dragging him over to the other side of the room. "I made this in case you ever came back to me, Norm!"

"Hey, man, watch the bangles..." His tone changed completely when Crocker's words registered. "Wait, what? You seriously made something in case, by some crazy coincidence, my lamp ended up with you again?" He almost laughed. _Someone _had a little too much time on their hands!

"You're going to love it, Norm!" he proclaimed, clutching a sheet that obviously had something large under it. "But first... bring me your lamp! Eh-HEE!"

After rolling his eyes a bit, he did as he was told and got the lamp. "Whaddaya need it for, Crockpot?"

"Now, GONG me inside!"

Norm snapped his fingers, not helping but to notice that Crocker worded it so it hadn't been a wish. "What are ya in there for?"

"You'll see!" echoed a small voice. The Genie had to listen closely to hear. After what sounded like a series of explosions (_Crockpot, if you wreck my 1001 Snappy Nicknames, I swear to God...), _he heard his master's voice again, requesting to be GONGed out.

"So, what were ya doin' in there?" He looked it over in his hands.

"I was hooking up the other half of..." He pulled the sheet and unveiled the machine. "_This _baby!"

It was a portal, the center of it a swirling purple. It looked kind of pretty. "Well, okay, what does it..."

He stopped. On the bottom of the portal, it read in large letters, **PORTAL TO NORM'S LAMP**. "Uh..."

"Now you don't have to GONG me in and out. I can just hop in this beauty and..." He jumped in, and suddenly his voice was coming from the lamp again. "...Ta-da! I wanted to show you before I used it."

Norm was shocked. _He said he worked on it after I left. Did he seriously do that? Damn..._

"Do you like it?" he asked eagerly, his head appearing in the first portal.

"Yeah," the Genie replied, at a bit of a loss for words. "Yeah, it's..." What was a good term for it? "...Awesome..."

That seemed to do it for Crocker, who enveloped him in a tight legs-and-arms hug. "Great! I spent so long on it!"

Norm smiled softly and returned the hug. This was working out quite nicely, indeed.


	3. Nightmares

Night came quickly upon the two of them, with Crocker spending the whole day on his Fairy-hunting machine. Norm lay in his lamp, on his bed, reluctant to close his eyes despite how tired he was. The Genie detested slumber and did all that he could to stay awake. It always failed, just like his attempts to escape. In the middle of the night, he would fall asleep, too tired to care that he was doing it, his mind too fogged to think clearly about what lay beyond the barrier between the waking world and the dream world.

Tonight was no exception, and he sighed, resting his head on the pillow. Maybe this night wouldn't be so bad. Maybe Crocker's affection had temporarily forced it down... _Yeah, right._

He scolded himself for thinking of something so stupid. Oh, well. He was going to sleep eventually. He could deal with it.

After all, he'd been doing it for the past fifty thousand years.

•••

It was really, really dark.

_Wow, Norm. How profound. You sure know how to capture an audience. _He floated around in the blackness for a while, wondering if, at some point, he would reach the wall of his lamp. That _was _where he'd awoken, right? It was only dark because it was in the middle of the night, right?

He snapped his fingers. Nothing happened.

_Fuck._

•••

Crocker couldn't really sleep that night; he was thinking of ways to get Norm to work his magic without wishing for it. In Norm's absence, he'd been thinking it over, and eventually the Genie had won over his rare, sympathetic side.

He sighed and rolled over. His mind was completely blank. Maybe he should sleep on it... or, try to, at least.

•••

Norm looked uneasily around, hardly able to see anything. Through the darkness, he could make out some clothes on hangers. Backing up, he hit a wall and felt it for a door, which apparently didn't exist. How big was this room?

"Norm!" a voice called, high and feminine. A hand grabbed his wrist and yanked at it violently. "Norm!"

_No._

He tried to speak, but nothing came out, and the voice continued. "I need to tell you something."

_No. Not this one again._

"I love you, Norm." He saw the outline of a girl before he was pushed back into the hangers forcefully. "And we're going to be together forever."

_Fuck off!_

"You're mine, Norm."

_Leave me alone!_

"And you always will be."

_Leave me alone!_

"Always."

_No. I don't want this. I don't want to belong to you. I don't want to be yours! I don't want to be anyone's!_

She fell atop him and handcuffed him, pulling at his jacket. "Mmm, you're so warm..."

_No! Get off me, and let me go! Make your final wish already! Fuck!_

_Leave me alone!_

_Leave me alone!_

_•••_

"Leave me alone!"

Crocker jumped up, startled, and looked at the portal. It sounded like sounds were coming from it. Sounds like... screaming.

"Leave me alone!"

_Norm? _He approached the machine cautiously, unsure; the yelling had quieted now.

Well, he could at least make sure. He hopped in, immediately appearing in Norm's room. The Genie was trembling, his back against the wall, and his head in his hands. "Ah, smoof..."

Crocker hesitantly reached out and touched his arm. Norm responded by yelling and quickly flying away in a panic, shooting an attack at him. When the teacher yelped, he looked up and sighed. "Oh, Crockpot. It's you. Damn, don't do that, ya scared me..."

He blinked under his thick glasses (he often wore them to bed). "What's wrong?"

"Ah, nothin'." He sank to the floor. "It's not important. Just some... stuff. Yeah..."

Crocker felt an urge to hug him like he had been doing recently, but decided it was a bad idea. "Who were you talking to? Is there someone here with you? Someone like a FAIRY?" He began to look everywhere in the room after spazzing a little.

Norm facepalmed. "No, no, it wasn't a Fairy... ugh, just go back to bed, okay?"

"No! There could be a** FAIRY GODPARENT** here!" His spazz made him land on top of Norm, who pushed him off irritably. "Well, you're grumpy."

_Fuck you, Crockpot. You have no idea. _"Well, yeah. When people have nightmares they tend to get like that, ya know..."

Nightmares? Crocker blinked at him. "Were you having one right now?"

_Ah, fez... _Well, there wasn't anything he could do about it now. Reluctantly, he replied, "Yeah, yeah, I have 'em from time to time... doesn't really matter, yeah?"

The teacher considered the question, rubbing his chin. "Well... nightmares aren't good..."

Norm snorted. _Yeah. No shit. _"If they were good, they wouldn't be nightmares," he retorted sharply, crossing his arms and looking down. The tip of his tail twitched as a response to his irritation. "Go back to bed."

"Are you going to have another nightmare?"

"Why do you care?" he asked, looking up at his master.

"We're friends."

"..."

"Aren't we?"

The Genie sighed. "Yeah, yeah, we are... but nightmares don't matter, all right?"

"But you're scared."

"Am not."

"But you said-"

"I'm not scared, okay?"

Crocker gave him a bit of a questioning look behind his glasses. "Are you sure?"

Man, was this guy dedicated! "I'm fine!"

Deciding he wasn't getting anywhere with Norm, Crocker sighed, and went to the portal. "Fine. But if I hear you screaming again-"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll come back here and scare the shit out of me again. I get it."

As Denzel hopped through the swirling purple transportation device, the Genie blinked at it and went under the covers again, vaguely wondering what would have happened had he told Crocker that he was indeed frightened.

_Eh, it doesn't matter._

With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes, attempting to get some sleep.

_•••_

It was really, really dark.


	4. Good Morning

When morning came, Norm sure as hell did not want to get up.

He responded to the urge to be lazy as a typical teenager would, hiding from the light - and, supposedly, the world - by curling up under as many blankets as he could without breaking out in a sweat from the heat. He GONGed a fuzzy blanket on the bottom so that it could urge him to relax a little bit. Smiling softy, he made a tired noise and closed his eyes again, vaguely aware that nightmares could come but not really caring. He was a warm, toasty cinnamon bun, and he sure as hell wasn't gonna give that up any time soon.

That is, providing Crocker stuck to his "no-wish policy", something that Norm guessed would have the lifespan of a day and a half.

He stayed there for a while, under all the blankets, thinking about what Crocker would wish for (if anything), and train of thought lead to wondering about if the man was going try to set him free. It was a nice thought, but he was pretty sure that the only rule regarding Genie wishes was that the wish-granter could not be set free by means of a wish. In any case, he was also convinced that no human was kind or considerate enough to let him out of the stupid lamp. Who would think of anyone else's well-being when they had unlimited power at the tips of their fingers, unless they knew what it was like?

_"I know what it's like to get ordered around too."_

He shivered despite the sheer amount of blankets he was under, unsure of what he should think about that statement. It did imply that Crocker felt for him, and that was the reason behind the no-wishing thing. But, didn't Norm already know that?

Did it mean something else...?

He huffed. Well, he wasn't going to get any sleep with these thoughts buzzing around in his head, and they didn't show any indication of stopping any time soon. Reluctantly, he magicked on a suit and appeared in Crocker's room, wondering if, at any point, it had crossed Crocker's mind to wish for a house.

The GONGing sound made Crocker yelp and fall out of the bed, shaking his head from side to side as if to clear it. "Geh! What did you wake me up for?"

"Hey, hey, easy there, Crockpot. It's all a part of the magic." He snapped his fingers to demonstrate, appearifying himself some cards and shuffling them absently. "If ya don't like it, don't rub the lamp, yeah?"

"It wasn't that loud before! You deliberately woke me up!"

"Eh, ya probably had some stuff in your ears." He frowned. "I didn't mean to wake ya, okay? Get over it..."

He glared at Norm for a while and sighed, leaning against the bed. "Fine."

"Good."

After a few moments of silence, Norm decided he wasn't going to get anywhere at this point, so he instead went back into the lamp. Perhaps now he could attempt to sleep...

_And dream about that crazy-ass bitch again._

_•••_

"Hey, have you guys noticed something?"

Timmy Turner glanced at AJ, absently swinging on the monkeybars. "Uh, no. Noticed what?"

"Crocker gave you 5 Fs this morning." He shoved a calculator in Timmy's face. "That's 67% less than the usual amount of Fs he gives you. I don't know. Maybe it's just a freak thing. But for now, I'm thinking something's up with him."

"Why does it matter?" Chester started swinging his feet, nearly hitting Timmy in the face. "Crocker's in a better mood! That's great! Right?"

"Well, duh, of course it is!" The bald child glanced over his shoulder at the school. "Which is why we need to know what's going on, so we can keep it that way."

"Can't we just, y'know, leave it alone?" Timmy dropped to the ground and crossed his arms.

"Of course not!" AJ protested. "Crocker never gets his way! We need to make sure that whatever's making him happy, stays there and doesn't change."

"But-"

"No buts, Timmy. Come on. Let's go investigate."


	5. Dark

Night came sooner than Norm would have liked, and it was a while before he got any sleep. He would have preferred to stay up the entire night, because with sleep, there were nightmares, of course. All he could really do about it, though, was cross his fingers and hope that this one wasn't going to be particularly bad; Genies needed sleep too, much as Norm cursed the fact.

"Stupid biology."

Groaning, he tossed the covers over his head, not sure whether the sound came from tiredness or dread. However, he didn't have much time to wonder, because he soon drifted off, still tucked snugly - but never safely - under his blankets.

:::

Timmy had never really been to comfortable with sneaking out at night. He hadn't done it often, and it certainly wasn't right. Wanda had given him a lecture when he mentioned doing it at all. Thankfully, Cosmo (mostly because he never listened to his wife at all) had poofed him outside without any real question as to why he was even going out. Silently, he thanked Mama Cosma for having such a stupid child. If he were anything like his counterpart... well, there wasn't really any telling what could happen. Except maybe evil shorts.

Running up to the entrance of the Dimmsdale Dump, he surveyed the area, squinting at the darkness. Streetlights flickered on and off, confusing him and giving his eyes little time to adjust to either setting. A dog howled somewhere within the wreckage, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Timmy, that you?"

Jumping a little, he turned around. Chester stood there, his braces gleaming occasionally in the spastic light. "Hey. You made it."

"Yeah. Is AJ not here?" Chester peered around his friend, climbing up the dump fence and taking a lookout position. "Man, he's the last person I would expect to be late. Isn't he supposed to be the smart one?"

"Maybe his dad caught him." Deciding it wasn't too dangerous (ignoring, of course, the possibilty that the howling dog was somewhere near), he shimmied up the wood and sat beside his friend. "You know. Because his dad's smart too."

The blond only nodded, making a silence fall between them for a while. After a few minutes, Chester squinted at him. "Where're your goldfish?"

"Goldfish?" He blinked. "Goldfish! Uhh, right. I didn't think they'd like the dark."

"I think they'd adjust fine," came a voice from the sidewalk below them. "...And why are you guys all the way up there?"

Timmy and Chester gazed down at the source of the voice. "AJ!" they cried simultanioiusly, hopping down from their position on the fence.

"Ya made it, buddy!" Chester grinned, punching him playfully on the shoulder. The braniac stepped away and brushed himself off, not uttering a word before he faced Timmy.

"Uh, hey, AJ," he said, waving a little awkwardly. "Sorry if your dad yelled at you or something."

"No, he didn't. He is kind of protective, but I don't think he saw me." His eyes darted to the top of the barrier. "What the heck were you doing up there? You could have fallen in!"

"Relax, buddy! We have great balance!" Chester assured him, putting his arm around Timmy's neck. As he said it, he tripped on himself and fell flat on his face, checking his braces afterward. "Well, we do when we're sitting down."

Ignoring the situation, AJ walked up to his pink-hatted friend. "Okay. This was your idea, so what should we do?"

"Go to Crocker's house?" he blurted, saying aloud the first thing that came to his mind. "I mean, won't we find whatever he's planning there? Or whatever is going on, I mean? I guess, he might not be planning anything, and maybe something just happened to make him happy..." Timmy trailed, deciding that he was being a very socially awkward penguin at the moment.

"Seems like a good place to start," AJ shrugged, turning in the direction of the mentioned house. "Should we look in his garage?"

"Wait, are you saying we should break in?" Timmy squeaked, his voice quavering.

"If you want to. Sneaking out was your idea."

:::

_...Fuck, it's dark in here._

_Not dark, I guess. More like just black. It's like if you close your eyes, you know, and that's what you see... but that's dark, too, because you need light to see, and black things absorb all the light... or something... I'm good at magic, not science, yeah? Science sucks. I'm not one of those snarly Abrakatraz scientists. Though, they might be nice. Never met one before. At least, I've never been in the facility. Because an ex-test subject used to be a master of mine..._

_But I know my eyes aren't closed, because I can feel myself blink, and shit. And... ah, damn, who am I even talking to? Myself, I guess. But that's something that crazy people do._

_Then again, when you're alone in one place for fifty thousand years, you're bound to go a little insane._

:::

Timmy gazed up at Crocker's house, shifting his weight on his feet, very uncomfortable indeed. "I- I don't know if we should do this, guys."

"This was your idea," AJ repeated for the umpteenth time, pointing at the pink-hatted boy rather accusingly. "You have to go first!"

"It wasn't my idea to break in!" Timmy protested, not taking his eyes off the home. "You mentioned it first!"

"Hey, guys?" Chester waved a hand in front of their faces. "Can we stop fighting? Won't he hear us? Do we even have to break in? Can't we just stand out here?"

"I'm not going to stand out here and do nothing," AJ huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. "I'm leaving."

True to his word, he stalked off, leaving Chester and Timmy in the icy wind.

"...Yeah, I think I'll go too," the braceface announced awkwardly before sprinting off in the direction of his trailer.

The brunette stood there for a while longer before giving up and heading home. Just as he took his first step, though, he froze, his stomach leaping up into his throat.

From the house, he could hear very faint sounds of screaming.


	6. Vines

_"Fuck! Fuck! Stay away from me! What are you? Fuck! **Fuck**!"_

Norm sat up, sweating, his throat raw from shrieking, his body wet with cold sweat. His hands were shaking uncontrollably, making his bangles jingle as they quivered.

_So much for good luck charms,_ he thought bitterly, sliding them off. The voice in his head seemed to echo the state of his hands. _They didn't do shit_.

With a sigh, he dropped them on the floor with a _ching!, _and flopped down on the bed. Momentarily, he cursed his thick black hair. It never helped the night sweats go away. It just made them worse.

_But it's just so sexy,_ he decided, rolling over on his side and curling up. Tentacles. Or vines, whatever they were. He liked to think that it was vines, because less people were into vine porn than tentacle porn. Did vine porn even exist? Probably. People were into weird shit, so there had to be at least one out there. But there were thorns, weren't there? Vines. It had to be vines.

Vines, in the darkness, creeping up and grabbing him. Choking him. Killing him. Well, that was new. He'd never really had a nightmare like that before. Or had he? It was really bad, so maybe he had shut it out... and, after fifty thousand years, wouldn't your subconcious run out of shit to come up with?

With a groan, he closed his eyes and attempted to get back to sleep. Hopefully, this time without the vines. A shiver ran down his spine. He could just feel them now, crawling on him, entrapping him, stealing the air from his lungs...

And that was when something grabbed him from behind.

Norm promptly freaked the fuck out, screaming even though his throat was sore, blasting at the vine with every aggressive spell he could think of, only stopping when he heard Crocker cry out in pain.

_Oh, fuck no, you're not taking him away from me too!_

He turned around and cringed when he saw no vines, just Crocker, rubbing his shoulder, bleeding from where Norm had attacked him.

...Well, fuck.

"C- Crockpot..." He bit his lip sympathetically, taking Crocker's arm and healing it. "Sorry, man, just... fuck, that was a bad time to grab me. Because the nightmare included being grabbed and choked..." Inspecting his master's skin, and floating back when it seemed fully healed, he let out a big sigh. "Hope I didn't hurt ya too much."

He rubbed his arm and looked surprised when he found that it didn't hurt at all. "No, it's okay, Norm." Pushing up his glasses, he approached the Genie. "...Is it okay if I touch you now?"

"Yeah, now that I know you aren't a vine..." He ran his hand through his hair and made a tiny noise of exasperation. "Just... fuck, man, you scared me so much..."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." He took the Genie into his arms briefly, before he was pushed off. After offering a few words of comfort (which, contrary to his belief, actually helped a lot), he left.

On the other side of town, Timmy Turner raced into his room, claiming that Crocker was torturing people.


	7. Won't Sleep

Her initial reaction was difficult to place, and she herself didn't really know what came first: the shock, or the laughter. That being said, the laughter was really only a result of the ridiculous nature of the claim, so perhaps it was both. That didn't really matter, though. Not now.

"He's torturing people!" Timmy repeated for what must have been the thousandth time, stamping his foot on the ground. "I heard it! I heard the screaming! It was loud and high and it sounded terrified!" He clutched Wanda's shoulders, shaking her a little. "You have to believe me!"

"Timmy, you must have heard wrong," Wanda insisted, making him let her go and crossing her arms. "I don't know what you heard, but it can't have been screaming. Crocker's a little... well, he's crazy, but he's more of a... you know... 'let's get together and talk about magical creatures' crazy, not a 'let's get together so I can torture you' crazy. Right?"

"But we exist," Cosmo pointed out, motioning to his child and wife with his wand. "So he isn't crazy, is he? Because we're real."

"But a lot of people think we aren't," Wanda argued, spreading her arms. "And he keeps going on and on about us. So-"

"But wouldn't that mean he's smart and the rest of them are crazy?" Cosmo was scratching his head now, trying to wrap his (non-existant) brain around human behavior.

"No, it means-"

"Would both of you just be quiet?" Timmy demanded, his hands balling into fists, and glad that Wanda had soundproofed the room earlier. "I heard it! There was screaming! Crocker's torturing people!"

"Timmy, think about it," Wanda sighed, floating down beside him. "Why would Crocker want to torture anyone?"

"Because he's gone insane!"

The three Fairies stared at him for a while and then started laughing, much to the brunette's frustration. When it was evident he was not going to get anywhere, he humped, and snuggled into bed.

"...I'll prove it somehow. I promise."

•••

_Won't sleep. Can't sleep. Not gonna sleep. Don't wanna sleep. Won't sleep. Won't sleep. Won't sleep. 'Cause I'm a magical creature, and I don't need sleep to stay alive. Nope. Nope. Not gonna sleep. Never gonna sleep. Not in a million years. They're just gonna keep comin' back. That's all they're gonna do. So I gotta stay awake. No sleepin'. Nope. None of that. I ain't gonna sleep. Never. Never._

_I'm not scared. I'm just kind of tired of nightmares. Yeah. That's it. Not scared, just tired. But not tired in that way. 'Cause I ain't gonna sleep. Nope. Never gonna sleep, just gonna stay up..._

_But this bed is so comfy..._

_...Fuck._

•••

_Okay. So I slept. But I didn't scream this time. Proud of myself for that. No screamin', can't worry Crockpot again 'cause he'll just grab me again. Yup. Some people never learn. Never learn. Nope, he's a human, and that's the one think they're completely fucking incapable of. Learning. Fairies are like that too, the racist pricks. Why don't I ever have nightmares about those little fuckers? It's just vines and shit. Vines and thorns and... damn, I think that last one had a bear trap in it. The fuck..._

_Why am I even proud, though? I kinda like it that Crockpot's concerned. It's weird, but good weird... like a kink you didn't know you had. Except without the sex. I could actually use some of that right now. Not with him. Is he still a virgin? Probably. Hm. I dunno._

_But still. What if I did scream this time? Would he come down and ask how I was? Maybe he's tired of it. Speaking of tired..._

_Nope. Nope. Not doing that shit again. Nope. It's not happening, not in a million years. No matter how comfy the bed is. Won't sleep. Won't sleep..._

•••


	8. All the Same

The next day, the three boys were puzzled to find that substitute - a rather round, pudgy lady by the name of Mrs. Carole - had taken place of their usual teacher. After exchanging a few odd glances, they each mused about what could possibly be keeping Crocker away, ignoring the woman before them entirely.

After what seemed eternity, the bell rang and they met up in the hallway, occasionally glancing around to see if Francis were to come lumbering down toward them. "Something's up," AJ murmured, making his two friends roll their eyes and mutter words about how obvious it was. "Guys. I'm serious. Something's up, something big, and we aren't going to find out what it is by standing outside of his house in the middle of the night."

"Oh, so, now you wanna break in?" Timmy growled, crossing his arms. "You were yelling at me last night for it! And I didn't even suggest it!"

"Well, because it made no sense!"

"But you just said-"

"Hey!" Chester went in between them and waved his hands in their faces. "Calm down. Someone's gonna hear us."

"Chester," AJ deadpaned, "be quiet."

"No. Why doesn't anyone listen to me? I'm trying to help!"

"Chester's right," Timmy confirmed. "We should listen. Okay. Go ahead."

"Hey!" Cosmo, who has disguised as Timmy's backpack, had decided to join in. "I wanna say something too!"

Timmy's two companions stopped for a second before glancing at each other and inquiring in unison, "What was that?"

"I uh-"

"It was his backpack!" Cosmo shouted, trying to cover himself up.

"Uh, yeah! My backpack! I'm trying to become a ventriloquist." Timmy nodded, as if to assure himself of the lie, and started saying random words out of the side of his mouth.

AJ blinked. "Well... you need to work on it," he decided. "It sounds terrible."

•••

The night began with a scream.

Norm had fallen asleep earlier than usual, but it didn't do anything to stop the horrors that his subconscious could come up with. He wasn't even sure why he was scared this time; he didn't remember the nightmare at all, but something kept him from falling asleep. Fear, he knew... but fear of what?

"Norm?"

He looked up and sighed, seeing Crocker appear from the portal. It was either actually morning, or very early in the night, because Crocker had on the clothes he would normally wear to work. "Whaddaya want, Crockpot?"

"Are you okay?"

With a groan, Norm nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Did you have a nightmare again?"

"Yeah, I did. What of it?"

"Is there any way I can help?" asked the teacher, appearing genuinely worried.

"Ha. Nope."

"There must be something I can do."

Norm glared at Crocker, allowing none of his internal agony to escape and show through in his violet gaze. "Ah, ya just don't give up, do ya?" He crossed his arms in a way that make it look like he was hugging himself, and rolled over in the bed, making his back face the teacher. "Geez…"

Denzel scowled. This wasn't fair! Were all friendships like this, or did Norm honestly think that screaming the middle of the night was normal? Whatever the case, he had had enough.

It was time for a wish.

His wording was simple, so much so that he was sure Norm wouldn't be able to warp it in any way. Sticking his finger in the air, as if to add emphasis, he stepped forward and proclaimed, "I wish I could help you!"

Norm froze, the shock numbing his fingers and delaying the normally swift snap. His mind automatically whirled with dozens of loopholes and word-bending, but the thoughts stopped to let a realization repeat over and over in his mind. _He means it. He wants to help. He's worried._

_He cares._

As those words bounced around in his head, the ice in his fingers melted and allowed him to work his magic. With a GONG, Crocker appeared on his back, beside Norm in the bed. The Genie grabbed his sleeve, clinging to it and, after a moment's hesitation, he began to sob, his face buried into the side of Crocker's neck. It felt so nice, having someone there to cling and cry to without fear of immediately being pushed away, to have someone's warmth against him without it having to involve sex, to have a body there to muffle the screams he desperately needed to let out. It was relieving, comforting, almost blissful, to just lay back and cry in someone's arms. He'd needed it for so long, and now he had it, and had no intention of ever letting go.

Crocker, on the other hand, lay clueless, blowing Norm's dark hair off of his nose. He had no idea what had just happened, or why this had been an acceptable version of the wish. How was this even helping? All it seemed to do was make the Genie cry, and that certainly wasn't a very positive reaction, unless the tears were those of joy.

Tentatively, but perhaps a bit instinctively, he slipped his arms around Norm and held him close, craning his head to make his neck more accessible and comfortable. The magical creature continued to shudder and sob against him, his grip on the crisp fabric of Crocker's shirt steadily tightening.

"There there, Norm," he began, patting the Genie's shoulder. Unsure of where he was to go with the awkward (and rather lame) attempt at comforting, he just repeated that phrase for a while before a new one took over. "It's okay…"

_No it's not. It never was._ He wanted to say it, but choked on his tears and remained quiet, moving his hands from Crocker's sleeve to the front of his shirt, feeling the tiny buttons in his fist. He had no real desire to undo them, but they felt nice in his hand, the smooth edges pressing against his palm. His final sob gave way to a sigh, and he quieted down, relaxing his grip and slowing his breath, eyes closing. _It's better now, next to you, but it's never okay._

They stayed like that for a while, until Crocker assumed Norm had fallen asleep. Quietly, slowly so as not to disturb him, he began to shift away, taking his hands off of him.

_No._

Without opening his eyes, he reached out and grabbed Denzel's wrist tightly, desperately, his arm trembling.

_No!_

Crocker half-sat, half-lay there, a puzzled expression on his face as he stared at Norm's hand. He pulled away a little, wondering if it was a reaction to a dream or something.

_No. Crockpot, please. You're not leaving me…_

Norm pulled at the arm a little bit, urging Crocker to come and be close to him again. When it seemed to have no effect, he tugged a little harder, starting to worry. The teacher didn't move, and Norm released his hold, letting his arm drop, and let out a sigh.

_Fuck..._

The room was silent for a while longer. After some time - it could have been seconds or hours; Norm couldn't really tell at this point - the Genie opened his eyes, and was greeted by empty space where Crocker used to be. A bitter, disappointed sound escaped him and he started crying again, silently this time, burying his face in his pillow.

_Humans. They're all the same._


	9. Night Out

Wow, I really need to apologize for not updating in such a long time! I promise that things will be moving faster. There were just a lot of things happening in real life that I had to deal with, and massive writer's block on top of that! So, here's a short chapter, and I hope you don't all hate me.

:::

Wanda, as her husband and godchild very well knew, was never one to take risks. There were, of course, exceptions, to this. After all, if someone she loved was in danger, she would go through Hell and back to save them.

Sitting outside of Crocker's house in the middle of the night wasn't really something she would call "Hell and back", but it was pretty damn close. Denzel was crazy about hunting Fairies, and she'd even been in his clutches before. It was somewhere she definitely didn't want to end up again. Despite those fears, something in her told her that she just had to come here and see what was going on.

She also felt a small bit of magic in the house. She wasn't sure what it was, or what species was giving it off, but she knew for a fact that it was there. Someone in that house was magical, and since it was Crocker's house, such a thing could end anything but well. Especially if her fear of Crocker capturing someone she knew and loved dearly had become a reality. "Someone she knew and loved dearly" did not, however, include Blonda, so if she ended up with Crocker for whatever strange reason, she wouldn't be setting that at the top of any priority lists, unless said list was one of those odd reverse lists of things she would never do. In that case, Blonda's rescue probably would be at the top, and now her mind was wandering and she should probably stop that.

She'd been a fire hydrant for quite some time now, and was thankful that no one had decided to take their dog on any midnight walks. As that thought came up, she glanced around to see if she'd been thankful too soon. Seeing that she had not been, she turned her attention back to the magical energy coming from the house.

It was strong. Not the energy itself, but the person using it. They'd obviously been practicing magic for a long time. They also weren't using a wand. Odd, but she supposed that it was possible if they were especially powerful, or perhaps a Genie.

She knitted her brow. Hadn't Crocker been Norm the Genie's master, once? He wouldn't be stupid enough to get himself _another _Genie, would he? She wouldn't really put it past him. After all, he was insane, and power-hungry.

_Kind of like Jorgen, _she thought bitterly, _except without the huge muscles and ego._

A startled sound cut through the night and Wanda would have tensed up, were she not a large pink chunk of metal. The noise itself was quiet due to the fact that it was coming from inside Crocker's house, but she could tell that whoever was making that noise was in a great deal of pain, or very terrified. Likely both, considering the fact that it was likely a victim being tortured by the teacher. Wanda never liked to think the worst in anyone, but it was difficult to see anything favourable in Denzel's case.

Immediately, she scolded herself for thinking so horribly of the man, but as another scream came from the house, her thoughts of torture crept back. It was odd, though. If torture was indeed the cause of the screaming, why wasn't she hearing any laughter from the teacher? Maybe he was keeping quiet because he thought passers-by would put two and two together? He wasn't that smart, was he? And even if he was, wouldn't he lose himself in the moment and begin to laugh at least for a little bit?

If he was to lose himself in the moment, Wanda figured she would have to wait for a while. The screams had only just started, after all. It was, however, getting cold, and she was tired enough to just fall asleep in fire hydrant form. So, instead of waiting for any sort of evidence she could find, she POOFed back home, hoping that she could get a little luckier the next time she went out.

:::


	10. Train

For what seemed to be the third time that night, Norm woke up with tears in his eyes.

It wasn't usually this bad. The nightmares were a given, and horrible as they were, the Genie had come to expect them. But three, in one night? Maybe more. Right after waking up, he was delirious with fear, not remembering the details of where he was, sometimes forgetting his own name. All that he saw or felt was the nightmare, the vines around his hands, the monsters in the dark, the eyes that watched his every move.

He flicked his tail. Once, twice. To remind himself that he was alive.

_I shouldn't even need to be reminded of something like that. Like, come on, buddy. Really? You're not burnin' in Hell, and it's not like you'd be goin' to Heaven anyway. You ain't dead, Norm. Are ya?_

A quick look at his surroundings assured him that he was indeed not in Hell.

_Yeah. See? Told ya._

Well, it wasn't literal, fiery, man-in-pitchfork-torturing-you Hell. The lamp was more like a metaphorical Hell, though, and he'd learned from a lot of experience that _torturers didn't need pitchforks and goat horns. All they needed was to be alive._

_Norm the Genie gets deep,_ the thought to himself with bitter sarcasm, pursing his lips and rubbing his hands together. He was tempted to curl up under the blanket again, but the sheets on his bed were twisted and knotted from all the thrashing he'd done, and he wasn't in the mood to remake it all - even if it only took a snap of his fingers. All he wanted was to just close his eyes and not see something that terrified him. Apparently, though, such was too much to ask.

When it became clear to him that he wasn't getting any sleep, he decided to make use of the portal Crocker had built. He couldn't help but cringe when he thought of the teacher. What had he been thinking, just gonging him into the bed like that? He'd probably gotten the wrong idea, or...

_Oh my god. Oh my god, you're a fucking idiot. How the hell does crying on someone even **begin** to translate into "let's have sex"? There's no way Crockpot'd gotten the wrong idea. No way, not at all._

Which meant there was no way to clear things up. Which meant that Crocker knew Norm's intent exactly, and rejected it. Which meant, yeah, Norm was an idiot, for more reasons than one, and _holy shit better get off this train of thought right now, it's about to board at self-loathing central, toot toot!_

After going through the portal, he appeared in Crocker's room, and a second cringe overtook him. He didn't like this. Not at all. He didn't like being in his master's room, seeing him sleep there, with his hair all messy and his glasses all crooked (Norm wasn't sure why he wore his glasses to bed. Wouldn't that end up being painful?). His leg was hanging off the side of the bed, and his chest was rising and falling as he breathed, and it looked so peaceful - Norm wanted to put his head on it, because it would feel like riding gently on a wave, but he would hear the steady thrum of a heartbeat, too, and it just looked so nice and inviting and safe...

_Yeah, that train ain't a good one to be on, either_, he decided, hovering closer despite the voice in his head. He watched for a little bit, unsure of what he was looking for. He felt a little creepy, too. Who even does something like that, watches other people sleep? It's not like Norm was some glittery vampire or anything; he was a Genie, a Genie who hated people and hated masters even more, because all they did was torture and tease and _sleep so perfectly..._

_Shit. Shit, nope. Halt, right there. Riiiight there, that's a good place to stop. Bad place to be in the first place, Norm, man you're saying place a lot, what are you even doing, you should be sleeping right now, you should be sleeping and having nightmares, that's what you should be doing. You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be watching him. You don't belong here. You don't belong here._

The violet-eyed creature backed up - backed the **_fuck_ **up - repeating that over and over as if to repel himself from Crocker.

_You don't belong here. _

_You don't belong here._

His back touched the door opposite Crocker's bed, and he bit his lip. He could still see him perfectly; the room was terribly small. Far too small for someone like Crocker. He was crazy, sure, but he was sure as hell affectionate, and _nope nope nope nope NOPE, stop that, you idiot!_

His thoughts halted for a moment as he had commanded them to, just long enough for him to shut his eyes and sigh. He didn't expect this. He didn't expect this, didn't want this, didn't need this, and sure as hell couldn't handle this. He wasn't sure what was going on, but it made him feel sick, and he didn't like it. Taking a deep breath, he made a quick escape into the portal, diving to the safety of under his bed.

Norm hated his mind. He hated it mostly for the nightmares that it stirred up and showed him when he sleeped. Now, his thoughts were turning agianst him too, making him feel weak and scared.

_Aaaaa-yep, there we go. Self-loathing central. And in under 15 minutes! That's gotta be a record or something._


	11. Postponed

The next day was Saturday, a day that Timmy normally celebrated every time he got the chance to. His three Fairies had the banner and balloons ready, and Cosmo had planned a new dance for his godchild (Wanda wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it involved bananas and car oil, so she wasn't sure she wanted to know). Poof clapped excitedly as they waited for the brunette to wake up, making small noises of anticipation. The last day of the week was Poof's favourite, too!

When one of Timmy's blue eyes opened, they began to whoop and holler about the excitement of the day. They were silent when the boy put up his hand. His stare was stony.

"Not today, guys. I gotta go find out what Crocker's doing."

Wanda almost sighed, wringing her wand in her hands. "Timmy, you know that this is a bad idea."

"Come on," her husband protested, slapping her playfully on the shoulder. "All he's doing is breaking into Crocker's lab and freeing his prisoner, it's not like he's breaking into someone's lab and freeing their prisoner or something! Except he is breaking into a lab and freeing his prisoner... I'm confused."

"You're _what_?!" Wanda cried, her eyebrows lowering. "You told me you were just going to stand outside his house!"

Timmy stared at his godfather. The Fairy gulped.

After he was finished with that, the turned back to Wanda, and lowered his eyebrows. "Listen, Wanda. I know you don't believe me, and I guess you're normally right when you tell me something is a bad idea, but... I never listen anyway! Why would I listen to you now? Besides, I know you snuck out! You're just as concerned about Crocker torturing people as I am!"

"Timmy, listen, that's not what I was doing!" she protested. "Okay, sure, maybe it's kind of creepy that he's so happy all of a sudden and there's screaming coming from his house, but it's not like no one else is going to notice, right? Something is going to be done by other people, and I don't want us to be seen when the news cameras arrive! You know what happens if you let it slip that you have Fairies!"

Timmy sighed. "Okay, Wanda, you have a point. I'll admit that. But I'm not going to let this go, even if Chester and AJ think that it's not worth it! I know a lot more about Crocker than those two could ever hope to, because I have you guys."

The tourmaline Fairy crossed her arms defiantly, turning up her nose. "I'm not going with you, Timmy. And neither is Poof! This is far too dangerous!"

"Look, Wanda," Timmy growled (the best he could with his prepubescent voice), "All we have to do is get into the Crocker Cave through the school, right? And since that's connected to his house, we can go in and see what's happening. See? I know what I'm talking about."

"Well, so do I!" She clutched her child close, sounding more concerned than anything now. "Timmy, we need to let this wait. If he's snapped enough to torture people, don't you think that something really, really bad will happen to you if you're caught?"

"Ha, I've thwarted Crocker way too many times to worry about that!" Timmy flapped his hand dismissively.

"There's a first time for everything, Timmy!"

"Yeah, well, it's not going to happen this time! I know what I'm doing, okay?!"

Cosmo made a high-pitched sound that sounded like a drawn-out whimper. "Why is everyone fighting? I want it to stop."

"Poof poof," the baby agreed timidly, his lips trembling.

Wanda squeezed him reassuringly, begging to Timmy with her eyes. "Please, Timmy, can't we at least hold this off for a while? I don't want you going in there unprepared."

The sight of his baby brother crying managed to make the pink-hatted boy resign. "Fine, we'll hold it off. But it's going to happen."

•••

One would expect Crocker to follow the pattern of typical human beings, and sleep in on a Saturday. After all, it was one of the days he had off from work, so why not? At least, that was Norm's reasoning. However, the Genie seemed to always have holes in his reasoning when it came to Crocker and how he should follow what normal humans do. When he heard Crocker working away at the Contraption at four in the morning - four in the _**fucking** _morning - , this became even more evident.

Good god. Was it even possible for humans to make so much noise when they were making something? Did he want to wake up every creature in the universe? Though, Norm would probably let him get away with it, provided that Crocker didn't suddenly think that he could just walk all over Norm and force him to make wishes. Crocker wasn't like that though, so, he didn't really need to worry.

With that thought, he nearly slapped himself. All humans were the same. No exceptions. And he really needed to start remembering that before he got too attached to this mess of uncontrollable spasms and missed medications. It was bad enough of him to watch him sleep, for however long he'd been doing that.

_Fuck_. No. He wasn't supposed to think about that. He wasn't supposed to bring it up again. Ever.

"Noooorm!"

It was almost as if the teacher had sensed that his Genie had been thinking about him. His head poked through the portal and he grinned. "Oh! Good! You're up! I was wondering if I was going to have to wake you up."

"Whaddaya want?" Norm crossed his arms. That was all Crocker was getting for a greeting. Served him right, for being so confusing.

He frowned. "I just wanted to say good morning."

"What for? It's morning. What's so good about morning? Nothin'. Nothin' at all, it's just morning. The sun's up, whoopie-doo. Let's all bake a fucking cake to celebrate the arrival of the long-awaited AM! It's a Christmas miracle!" He snorted. "Whatever, man. It's nicer out at night anyway. Got a bunch of tiny little lights that make pictures instead of this big fucking gigantor piece of shit blinding you if you so much as glance at it."

"But -FAIRIES! - come out in the daytime! Night is boring! That's when we sleep. People sleep at night, Norm."

That earned Crocker a raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah? We all sleep at night, huh? Pff. Yeah, sure. Don't get me wrong. I try. But _some_ of us don't like what we see when we sleep!"

_But when you sleep, I like what I see there- SHUT UP. SHUT UP, NORM, STOP THAT!_

Fists clenched, bangles clanging from his arms shaking, he dove behind his bed, hugging himself, not listening to apologies from his master. He opened his mouth to shout something along the lines of "leave me alone", but nothing came out but a small squeak, so he stayed quiet until he heard Crocker go back to the Contraption.

His head fell into his hands, though there weren't any tears coming at all. He was about ninety percent sure that the two of them had just fought... or something like that. Couples fought. What did Genie-master-sort-of-friendship-things do? Did they fight, too? Did it even matter what it was called? Was Crockpot mad at him now?

"Smoof," he muttered under his breath. Why did he even bother with doing that, having replacements for swears when most of the time had the vocabulary of a well-educated pirate? It didn't make much sense, but if Norm was honest with himself, he didn't really understand a lot when it came to what he did. He understood his sexiness perfectly, but when that was all you understood about yourself, what real good was it? Yeah, sure, it got you laid a hell of a lot of the time, but it's not like he was looking to get laid here, unlike the majority of his life.

At this point, Norm couldn't help but question what felt worse: liking Crocker, or the idea of hating him.


End file.
